A conversation between Rastko Novaković and the writer James Kelman as part of the following event:
INCLINATIONS film club presents
Seven Stories by James Kelman (1996, 70 mins)
&
Libera Me (1993, 80 mins) directed by Alain Cavalier
+ James Kelman in conversation
The introductory remarks by Rastko Novaković aren't captured in full. He started by speaking about the reason for pairing the 7 Stories and Libera Me: the process of subtraction at work in the film - there are no doors, no windows, no streets, no trees - how this compares with the process of writing at work in some of Kelman's books, for instance the idea to use as few adverbs and adjectives as possible in his novel A Chancer, "paring things down in a certain way..." - this is where the recording picks up.
The event was advertised as follows:
A
voice in the dark and a film without voices. This double-bill brings
together stories by James Kelman and the cult film Libera Me (1993).
We
begin by listening to Kelman’s voice as he tells seven of his acclaimed
stories. At turns intimate, terrifying and everyday, they are both
honed and full of life, performed masterfully by the writer himself.
They set the scene for the wordless film which follows. In an unnamed
country gripped by totalitarian militias, we see how everyday life goes
on despite of and in resistance to violent forces. We follow characters
and stories through wordless details and fragments, accompanied by the
sounds of the existence, oppression and resistance of human bodies. The
film echoes the Nazi occupation of France and the Yugoslav wars of the
early 1990s, which were raging at the time.
Alain Cavalier (b.
1931) came of age as a filmmaker during the New Wave era. He won
several awards, including the César Award for Best Film and César Award
for Best Director for his film Thérèse in 1987. His film Pater premiered
In Competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. This year is the 30th
anniversary of Libera Me and we will be screening a new restoration of
the film.
James Kelman (b. 1946) was born in
Glasgow. His first book was published back in 1973 by Puckerbrush Press,
a wee indie based in Orono, USA. His current and more recent work is
published by PM Press, a much larger indie, based in Oakland, USA. See
here for more information. James and his wife, Marie, live in Glasgow, not far from their family.
The event was recorded by Mark Cunningham who also mixed the audio.
Live Music
Archive
Librivox
Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland
Museum of Art
Internet
Arcade
Console Living Room
Open Library
American
Libraries
TV News
Understanding
9/11
